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Anticipation/Predication Guides
Reading and Learning Strategy
Before Reading
Anticipation/Predication Guides
Purpose of teaching Anticipation Guides:
Anticipation Guides (Herber, 1978) are typically a list of statements related to a topic that act as
scaffolding for student understanding of the text. Students indicate if they agree or disagree with
each of the statements. This activates prior knowledge and helps students’ connect new
information with what is already known, as well as setting a purpose for reading (as students
read to gather evidence that will either confirm their initial beliefs or cause them to rethink
them). They can also be used to prompt student discussion both before and after reading.
Anticipation guides can help students consider the conceptual message of the lesson.
Explicitly teaching the use of Anticipation Guides:
Step 1
The first step is to create an anticipation guide.
 Write statements that focus on the information in the text that you want students to think
about.
 Write statements that students can react to without having read the text
 Write statements for which information can be identified in the text that supports and/or
opposes each statement
 Write statements that challenge students’ beliefs
 Write statements that are general rather than specific.
(Duffelmeyer, F. (1994). Effective Anticipation Guide statements for learning from expository prose. Journal of Reading)
A good anticipation guide includes statements that provoke disagreement and challenge
students’ beliefs about the topic.
Step 2
Students complete the anticipation guide individually by recording their response in the ‘Before’
column (column titles can vary). Then in groups they discuss why they responded to each
statement in the way they did and are given the option of changing their response.
Step 3
Students then read with the purpose of finding out what the text says about each statement.
and each student identifies evidence from the text to support their position. Students can change
their response in the ‘After’ reading column, if their position changes after reading.
Step 4
After reading have a class discussion and ask students if their position changed in relation to any
statements. Make sure students share examples from the text where their initial responses were
either supported or challenged (how their prior knowledge was supported or changed by the
reading).
Strategy – Anticipation/Predication Guides
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Anticipation/Predication Guide Examples
Prediction Guide – Estimating
Before reading pages xx-xx, place a  beside those statements you think will be true in the reading and a
✗ beside those statements you think will be false. Then, during or after reading make any changes that you
wish.
Before
After
___
1. It is easy to add up some number in your head, but it is harder to add others.
___
___
2. An estimate is a guess, but it can be pretty accurate.
___
___
3. When you round a number up, you change a number in your mind to make it equal to the ___
next amount of ten, or hundred, or thousand.
___
4. When you round down, you make a number smaller in your mind.
___
___
5. If you want to round the number 73 to the nearest ten, you would round it to 70.
___
___
6. If you want to round the number 76 to the nearest ten, you would round it to 80.
___
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Source: MAX teaching
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Strategy – Anticipation/Predication Guides
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Anticipation/Predication Guide Examples
Anticipation Guide for The Process of Digestion (pages xx to xx)
Before reading: In the Before column place  if you agree or think the statement is true and a ✗ if you
disagree or think the statement is false.
After reading now that you have found the evidence in your textbook place  or a ✗ in the After
column.
Before
After
___ 1. The digestive system of a human is just like that of a frog – a long hollow tube.
___
___ 2. Of the mouth parts (lips, cheeks, tongue, teeth, and salivary glands) the teeth are the most
important.
___
___ 3. You cannot swallow and breathe at the same time.
___
___ 4. The most important part of the digestive process occurs in the duodenum right after the food ___
leaves the stomach.
___ 5. The inside of the small intestine looks like a rug.
___
___ 6. Early humans may have needed an appendix, but modern humans do not.
___
___ 7. By the time food gets to the large intestine, the nutrients are gone.
___
Anticipation Guide: Of Mice and Men
Before reading: In the Before column place  if you agree or think the statement
is true and a ✗ if you disagree or think the statement is false.
☐
1. Feeling responsible for someone can be a burden.
☐
2. Men will not allow their friends to become burdens.
☐ 3. Women need friends more than men need friends.
☐ 4. It is more acceptable for women to love their female friends than it is for
men to love their male friends.
☐ 5. If a person has a dream, s/he can survive against the odds.
☐ 6. Dreamers go nowhere.
☐
7. Sometimes euthanasia (mercy killing) can be justified.
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Strategy – Anticipation/Predication Guides
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Anticipation/Predication Guide Examples
Anticipatory Guide pH & Bases
Name____________________
Date__________________
Directions: Predict whether each of the solutions/mixtures is a base or an acid in the first column. Then
at the end of the lesson check to see if your predictions were right and then support it with evidence from
your work.
Prediction before lab
work:
Circle only one
Solution/Mixture
Results after lab work with supporting
evidence
Base-Neutral-Acid
Your Saliva
Base-Neutral-Acid
Evidence:
Base-Neutral-Acid
Vinegar
Base-Neutral-Acid
Evidence:
Base-Neutral-Acid
Lemon Juice
Base-Neutral-Acid
Evidence:
Base-Neutral-Acid
Tap Water
Base-Neutral-Acid
Evidence:
Base-Neutral-Acid
Coca cola
Base-Neutral-Acid
Evidence:
Base-Neutral-Acid
Base-Neutral-Acid
Sugar Water
Evidence:
Base-Neutral-Acid
Ammonia
Base-Neutral-Acid
Evidence:
(Source: LIMSST project- Literacy Instruction in Mathematics and Science for Secondary Teachers)
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Strategy – Anticipation/Predication Guides
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Anticipation/Predication Guide Examples
Anticipatory Guide: Do teacher attitudes impact literacy strategy implementation in
subject area classrooms?
Before
Reading/Research
Agree
Statement and Evidence
Many teachers see the link between literacy
skills and learning subject content.
After
Reading/Research
Agree/Disagree
Evidence:
Disagree
Agree
Many teachers see literacy as only relevant
when talking about special educational needs.
Agree/Disagree
Evidence:
Disagree
Agree
Disagree
Agree
Only the English department and the SEN
department should look after the literacy needs
of students.
Most teachers are familiar with subject area or
disciplinary literacy strategies.
Agree/Disagree
Evidence:
Agree/Disagree
Evidence:
Disagree
Agree
Literacy instruction is the responsibility of
primary schools.
Agree/Disagree
Evidence:
Disagree
Agree
Disagree
Teachers’ personal beliefs greatly influence
decisions made about teaching approaches
and methodologies used in the classroom.
Agree/Disagree
Evidence:
Agree/Disagree
Agree
Disagree
Literacy teaching at post-primary should only be
Evidence:
concerned with encouraging reading for
pleasure.
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Strategy – Anticipation/Predication Guides
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Anticipation Guide
Name
Topic
Read each statement below. Respond in the left column whether you agree (A) or disagree (D) with each
statement. Think about why you agree or disagree and be prepared to share. When you finish reading change
your position if necessary by writing in the right column agree (A) or disagree (D).
Before
Reading
Statement/Question
Agree/Disagree
After
Reading
Agree/Disagree
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
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Anticipation Guide
Read the statements and decide how strongly you agree or disagree with each. Explain
your thinking in one or two sentences. After reading or discussing see if your thinking
has changed.
Rating:
SA=Strongly Agree
Statements
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A=Agree
SA
A D SD
D=Disagree
SD=Strongly Disagree
Explanation
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Strategy – Anticipation/Predication Guides
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Anticipation Guide
Title:
Directions:
1. Read the following statements.
2. Put a ✔ or a ✖ beside each statement you think is true or false before you read.
3. Be prepared to support your view by thinking about what you already know.
4. After reading, check your before reading response to each statement and decide if
you will change your true/false stance for the statement.
TRUE
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STATEMENTS
FALSE
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Strategy – Anticipation/Predication Guides
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Anticipation Guide
1. Read the “Consider These” statements. Then √ if you agree or disagree with these statements.
2. As you read the text, refer back to the statements and take notes about the topic.
3. After you read, √ True or False to indicate the answers you found in the textbook.
Before the Reading
Agree
After the Reading
Consider These
Disagree
True
False
Notes:
Notes:
Notes:
Notes:
Notes:
Notes:
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Strategy – Anticipation/Predication Guides
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Anticipation Guide
Directions: For each of the following statements decide whether you agree or disagree.
In the left column, write agree or disagree. Choose only one. Look for evidence in your textbook
that either supports (agree) or doesn’t support (disagree) each statement. In the far right
column record the page numbers to back up your findings.
Before Reading
Agree
Disagree
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Statements
After Reading
Agree
Disagree
Text
Evidence
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Strategy – Anticipation/Predication Guides
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National Behaviour Support Service (NBSS)
Navan Education Centre
Athlumney
Navan
Co. Meath
Telephone: +353 46 909 3355
Fax: +353 46 909 3354
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.nbss.ie
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